Thunderball (James Bond Novels)
by Ian Fleming
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ian FlemingEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-05-27
ISBN: 0142003247
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of Thunderball (James Bond Novels)
Book Review: Book's Best Line: "Authentic Blonde," Commented Leiter.
Summary: 5 Stars
First published in March 1961, Ian Fleming's ninth James Bond book out of an eventual 14, "Thunderball," is one of the best of the bunch. Of all the books in the Bond canon, it is the one with the most complicated legal history regarding its authorship, film rights and royalties. Much has been written elsewhere regarding the complex litigious battles surrounding the book, and I will confine myself here to saying that "Thunderball" was originally written as a screenplay--by Fleming, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham--for what was to be the first Bond film. When this production deal fell through, Fleming wrote his novelization alone, leading to the aforementioned, decades-long brouhaha. This is an important book in the Bond series in that it introduces us, for the first time, to Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the criminal genius who would later figure in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and "You Only Live Twice" (the Blofeld Trilogy, Raymond Benson has called it), as well as the terrorist organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E. In the book, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. manages to hijack a NATO Vindicator aircraft and steal its two atomic bombs, with which it ransoms the U.S. and the U.K. for 100,000,000 pounds. Bond is sent by his boss, M, to the Bahamas on a hunch and there teams up with his old C.I.A. buddy Felix Leiter. They combat S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s Emilio Largo, aided by his mistress, Domino, and ultimately (and I don't think I'm really spoiling anything for anyone at this late date), with the aid of 10 Navy frogmen, engage in an underwater dukeout with Largo's men as the first bomb is being laid.
The so-called Fleming effect (the author's ability to create a sense of absolute realism and engender complete credulity on the part of the reader by a laying on of convincing detail) is very much in evidence in this book; indeed, the amount of detail is really quite incredible. I hadn't read "Thunderball" since the '60s, and can't imagine how I managed to appreciate it back then; even now, I required the aid of a good atlas, a dictionary AND the Interwebs to investigate the 147 obscure references that I encountered therein. (Really, how many of us remember the "Ah, Bisto" gravy ad? John Griswold's "Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories" might indeed be a worthy investment!) The book comes off slightly dated in parts, with references to New Providence's Infield Road (now J.F.K. Drive), Diner's Club cards and the U.K.'s Ministry of Health (now the Department of Health), but the basic plot--a terrorist group laying its hands on nukes--is, sadly, more relevant and timely than ever. At one point, Bond muses that pretty soon, "every tin-pot little nation would be making atomic bombs in its backyards"; a bit of prescience on Fleming's part, five decades ago. The novel is swift moving and tense, with Bond constantly wondering if he's following a false lead and really mucking things up. The fondly remembered Shrublands section at the beginning, during which Bond goes for a rest cure, features some humorous moments, as Bond is almost converted to a healthy lifestyle! This soon changes as his difficult case begins; during his first day in Nassau, he consumes, by my count, a vodka tonic, two double martinis, a double bourbon old-fashioned, two more martinis and a stinger...10 mixed drinks! That's my James! Domino, it must be said, turns out to be one of the most appealing and spirited of the novels' "Bond girls," and Largo a worthy adversary. All in all, some extremely impressive work by Fleming.
Inevitably, comparisons to the 1965 filmization come to mind. (I will refrain from discussing the 1983 filmization, "Never Say Never Again," which is inferior to the 1965 picture in every department.) Although a book is most often fuller, richer and deeper than the film that follows, it turns out that in this case, both have their strengths. The "Thunderball" novel is certainly more realistic, especially as regards that climactic dukeout (mechanized underwater transports in the film; S.P.E.C.T.R.E. CO2 guns vs. Navy knives stuck on broom handles in the book). The slaying of Petacchi, the Italian airman who steals the Vindicator, is, I think, better in the film (a slit-air-tube drowning in the film vs. a quick knifing in the novel). The Shrublands sequence is far better and more sensible in the book, however; this section has always been hard to follow in the film...plus, I have always disliked Bond's sexual blackmailing of Patricia Fearing, his Shrublands nurse, in the picture. Bond's reconnaisance of Largo's hydrofoil yacht, the Disco Volante, is far superior in the novel, too; the film excises the entire, exciting sequence with that nasty barracuda. Bond's discovery of the sunken Vindicator is also far more effective and grisly in the book. In the film, Blofeld is never really seen (except for his lap and that darn cat!); in the novel, in a very fascinating section, we learn his complete background and history. "Thunderball" the movie tends to get a bit scattered and sluggish at times (don't get me wrong...it's still one of my personal top 100 films), whereas the book is quite compact and really moves! What the film does uniquely offer, to its credit, is a character not present in its source novel, and that is the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. assassin Fiona Volpe, memorably portrayed by Luciana Paluzzi. She is a wonderful character, and perhaps the best of the Bond "bad girls" (not counting Rosa Klebb, who I have trouble regarding as a "girl"!). "Thunderball" the movie is bigger than the book, perhaps inevitably, and a smashing entertainment (filmed for $9 million, the picture made almost $29 million and was the third top grosser of the year, after "Doctor Zhivago" and "The Sound of Music"), but is it better than the book? In all, I'd have to say no. The book is not perfect, and Fleming surprisingly makes a few flubs here and there (S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is said to have assassinated a French "heavy-water specialist" named Peringue in chapter 6, but in chapter 8, he is named Goltz, for example), but it sure is as entertaining as can be. "It is the sort of melodramatic nonsense people write about in thrillers," Domino tells Bond at one point, referring to one small part of his plan of action, but most readers shouldn't mind one bit, as the Fleming effect hurtles them along. This is some wonderful, exciting and classic stuff, indeed.
Summary of Thunderball (James Bond Novels)
James Bond is in disgrace. His monthly medical report is critical of the high living that is ruining his health, and M packs him off for a fortnight to a nature-cure clinic to be tuned-up to his former pitch of exceptional fitness.Action & Adventure Books
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